It’s finals day at the two grass-court ATP 500s, including at Queen’s Club–where top seed Carlos Alcaraz goes up against No. 7 Alex de Minaur. In Halle, Andrey Rublev runs into unseeded Alexander Bublik.
Cinch Championships: (1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. (7) Alex de Minaur
Alcaraz and De Minaur will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they battle for the Queen’s Club title on Sunday afternoon. Their only previous encounter came last spring on the red clay of Barcelona, where Alcaraz prevailed 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-4. Another good one should be in store, as De Minaur is a considerable underdog but has always excelled on grass. The 18th-ranked Aussie punched his ticket to the final this week by beating Andy Murray, Diego Schwartzman, Adrian Mannarino, and Holger Rune–dropping just one set to Mannarino in the process.
It wouldn’t have been too surprising to see Alcaraz get a couple of grass-court matches under his belt and then head on his way to Wimbledon, but it has become clear that he is motivated to lift a trophy in London. The second-ranked Spaniard was unspectacular against Arthur Rinderknech in round one, but he has since destroyed Jiri Lehecka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sebastian Korda. Now that Alcaraz has gone all the way to final, why not go a little farther? The recipe for beating De Minaur is to blow him off the court with power, and that is exactly what Alcaraz is capable of doing.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
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Terra Wortmann Open: (3) Andrey Rublev vs. Alexander Bublik
The Halle field was absolutely loaded at the beginning of the week, but nonetheless Bublik has played his way into Sunday’s championship match. Although Bublik predictably struggled on clay (and hard courts), he is off and running on his grass-court stomping grounds. The world No. 48 has impressively navigated a brutal draw with defeats of Borna Coric, Jan-Lennard Struff, Jannik Sinner (via retirement), and Alexander Zverev.
It certainly doesn’t get any easier, as Bublik is 0-3 lifetime against Rublev at the ATP level. The seventh-ranked Russian beat Bublik twice in 2019 on indoor hard courts (Moscow and Vienna, both in three sets) and then defeated him again indoors in 2020 (7-5, 6-3 in Rotterdam). It’s clear that even in fast conditions that would favor the Kazakh, Rublev knows how to handle him. With Halle victories over Yibing Wu, Yannick Hanfmann, Tallon Griekspoor, and Roberto Bautista Agut under his belt, the third seed is only growing in confidence. Bublik may be able to serve his way to a set, but Rublev will likely secure his 14th ATP title.
Pick: Rublev in 3
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WWW?
“The second-ranked Spaniard was unspectacular against Arthur Rinderknech in round one, but he has since destroyed Jiri Lehecka, Grigor Dimitrov, and Sebastian Korda.”
Really Ricky, and how good are these players that he “destroyed”, not one single top 20 player, the first one will be De Manure (#18)? The tournament is at 250 level, not 500 hundred.
Halle had much much stronger field.
Meh, on Halle’s “stronger field.” Rublev vs. Bublik is hardly the stuff of legends (nothing against either of them, I quite like Andrey but he’d have to have a mighty fine day to beat an in-form Alcaraz). Even if there were some higher-ranked folks at Halle, none are a particular threat on grass (and one is perpetually injured), hence why they aren’t there at the end. You play the draw you get — that’s tennis.
If you don’t like what you read, you should do what most smart people do: stop reading it. I think the majority come to this forum for the comical component—to see the operator make a prediction as if he’s an authority on the subject (usually by following the bookmakers) and continually getting it wrong.
Well, how did you come to conclusion that I don’t like what I read, I actually do, which doesn’t equate to agreeing with what I read, that’s why we all comment, no?
You do that regularly (reading and not liking what you read) when it comes Ricky, so you should apply your advice about smart people to yourself first, to start with.
De Minaur needs to work on his public speaking skills, especially on the international stage. He should give credit to his opponent and genuinely acknowledge the crowd. “I faced a difficult opponent today who was in great form, so I’m very happy to get through this one. I couldn’t have done it without the support of this great crowd. The tournament has a great history, so I feel very privileged to be here.”
Had a feeling De Minaur would put in a soft performance after that post match interview. It was very awkward and momentum is everything.
Live and learn.
Well played Alcaraz! Learning how to play on grass in front of our eyes. Fabulous.That forehand- wowzer!
If Andrew Castle and Clare Balding mention Katie Bolter once more, I wont be responsible for my actions!
I literally cannot stand 1 minute more of listening to Castle!
He is full of it!
Wow….sure didn’t pick Bublik….what a great week for him….and Vamos Charlito!!!!